Category: Saving Species

Guereza colobus or mantled colobus - monkeys of the old forest. They rarely come down to earth and feed mostly on leaves. Picture courtesy: Kat Combes,Soysambu Conservancy

Fundraising for Pre-translocation ecological assessment of Mount Kenya Guereza and the habitats of Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya

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April 8, 2017

This April 8, 2017 Pre-translocation ecological assessment of Mount Kenya Guereza and the habitats of Soysambu Conservancy. resulted in an accelerated human-guereza conflict as the groups crop raid to supplement the meager wild food.

To save this population, 142 individuals were successfully translocated to Karura forest in 2016 and over 200 individuals still remain in the fragmented private riverine habitats of Kipipiri. Urgent translocation efforts are therefore, required to safe these groups from being exterminated in the near future. Such an effort however, requires identification of a suitable habitat with enough food, cover, security and away from human habitation and especially the agricultural community to minimize human-colobus conflicts in the sink habitat.

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Diana Barr working with an Indian cobra. This beautiful snake is one of India's 'Big Four' and is responsible for thousands of deaths every year in India. Rupi Mangat Read

Women in a Venomous Field

Published on by Rupi Mangat1 Comment

Four amazing women make a career of working with snakes. Attending the tenth international snakebite seminar at Bio-Ken snake farm in Watamu recently, each narrates the path taken.

East African 7-13 Jan 2017

Handling live venomous snakes is an extra-ordinary noble but extremely dangerous profession.

One reason for handling venomous snakes is to milk them – which is the only way to obtain snake venom to produce supplies of anti-venom. Without anti-venom being readily available and administered, a bite from any venomous snake can be deadly. Ironically, anti-venom can only be produced from ample supplies of venom from live venomous snakes. And it takes some dexterity to do that.

Diana Barr

Diana Barr keeping a keen eye on her students as they perform venom extraction from a Papuan taipan under her instruction at the Charles Campbell Toxinology Centre in Papua New Guinea. (Left: Owen Paiva, right Benjamin Wawagu Bande). The venom is sent to the Instituto Clodomiro Picado in Costa Rica where it is used to produce lifesaving antivenom. This highly venomous snake has a nervous temperament which coupled with its speed and agility make it an extremely dangerous snake to work with. It is responsible for around one thousand deaths per year in Papua New Guinea. Picture courtesy: Barr
Diana Barr working with an Indian cobra. This beautiful snake is one of India’s ‘Big Four’ and is responsible for thousands of deaths every year in India. Picture courtesy: Barr

Young and dynamic, Barr’s job as technical support officer at the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne and Global Snakebite Initiative, an Australian non-profit organisation working to reduce snakebite deaths and disability around the world, puts her in very close contact with the most venomous snakes in the world.

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Cheetah cubs confiscated from the illegal pet trade in the Somali region of Somaliland. The cub on the bottom had just died due to inadequate care. The other two cubs

Combating illegal Trafficking in Cheetah Cubs

Published on by Rupi Mangat1 Comment

Above picture:Cheetah cubs confiscated from the illegal pet trade in the Somali region of Somaliland. The cub on the bottom had just died due to inadequate care. The other two cubs were eventually transferred to the Born Free Foundation sanctuary in Ethiopia.  © Günther Wirth.

The horrific illegal trade in cheetah cubs and other endangered wildlife fuelling the exotic pet trade

wild-cheetahs-cubs-with-their-mother-in-the-masai-mara-karl-andreas-wollert-1024x682
Wild Cheetah cubs with their mother in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya Picture copyright Karl-Andreas Wollert.

It was a phone call from a U.S. Marine in November 2005 that put the wheels in motion for Patricia Tricorache, assistant director for strategic communications of the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) to add ‘illegal wildlife trade’ to her title.

“He was calling from Ethiopia about two cheetah cubs that were tied with ropes outside a restaurant in Gode, a remote village in eastern Ethiopia. He was a vet and said that the cubs would die soon; he was considering buying them.

“I begged him not to buy them because it would only encourage more poaching. We frantically began calling everyone we knew in Ethiopia, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program and the U.S. Embassy.

Scout and Patch, two 3-month old cubs reported to CCF by a US Marine soldier and confiscated from a restaurant in Gedo, Ethiopia in 2005 by the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority. Both cubs died a few months later. © Befekadu Tefera, 2005.
Scout and Patch, two 3-month old cubs reported to CCF by a US Marine soldier and confiscated from a restaurant in Gedo, Ethiopia in 2005 by the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority. Both cubs died a few months later. © Befekadu Tefera, 2005.

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Lion pride in Nairobi National Park

Happy Birthday Nairobi National Park

Published on by Rupi Mangat1 Comment
Celebrating her 70th ‘Birthday’ on the Saturday 17th December, 2016
Zebra on the plains of Nairobi National Park Copyright Rupi Mangat
Beautiful sky and savanna of Nairobi National Park Copyright Rupi Mangat
Nairobi National Park will be celebrating her 70th ‘Birthday’ on the Saturday 17th December, 2016.
We will mark this day with a peaceful Save Nairobi National Park/Commemoration Walk From Nyayo Stadium to Bomas of Kenya along Lang’ata Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This is a great opportunity for those who have not been able to participate in the peaceful protests we have had during the midweek.